Rona Johnston
Rona Johnston - Cherokee
Rona Johnston " Cherokee" (also Ojibwa, German, Irish, French)
Rona started carving in 1980 and has had many teachers. There are many people who she would like to thank for their guidance, teachings and wisdom, including Adrianne Roan Bear, Jack Crow, Deb and Christopher Michaels, Travis Erickson, Buck Ghost Horse, her husband Bud Johnston, Gene Bell, Breon Lake, Butch and Lee Taylor, and her 4 children (Jessica, Aaron, Pascal, and Camas) to name a few. Rona has traveled extensively and lived in many places around the US and has had the opportunity to study the culture, arts and mythology of many tribes.
With her degree in Early Childhood Education, Rona has spent her life incorporating her knowledge of American Indian culture into her teaching. Rona believes that it is important to give children more than reading and writing and arithmetic. If children feel good about who they are and have a passion for learning, they have the tools they need to succeed. Rona started volunteering for the Keepers in 1998 and became Secretary - Treasurer soon after.
Rona creates works of art in a variety of mediums from leather and beads to carving and jewelry. One of he favorite pipes is the eagle claw. This pipe features the eagle protecting the egg - re-creation of life. She began creating as a child, learning to crotchet at age 3, was doing beadwork by age 10, starting making her own regalia, carving stone and doing commissioned paintings while in high school. After graduating from Pipestone High School in Minnesota she traveled selling her beadwork , leatherwork and carvings all around the US and Canada.
Although she danced at a few Pow Wows while in high school. It wasn't until she had her own children that she started getting serious about discovering her roots and attended Pow Wows on a regular basis, first in Seattle Washington area and then in the Eugene Oregon area where she was living at the time. Also during this time she went to College and got her degree in education, was a presenter at conferences and did public speaking to bring awareness to the causes of homelessness of children.
Years later after graduating and having her 3rd child she moved to Alaska and learned a little about the people of the great north, began silversmithing, worked as a head supervising teacher of a large preschool, attended pow wows and eventually opened her own pre-school. After splitting with her first husband she took her children and move back to the Pipestone, MN. area to be close to family and completed a large circle She met her current husband soon after arriving in Pipestone and started a new set of adventures.
She ran a preschool there for awhile until she was offered a job working at the Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers. Today she continues to teach by doing day programs at schools with the help of her family on American Indian subjects from craft oriented classes, storytelling and history to American Indian dance. Rona and Her husband Bud have done classes on pipemaking here in Europe and Australia. She makes custom order pipestone carvings for people from all over the world, volunteers for the Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers ( funding ran out to pay her years ago), dances at pow wows (mostly Jingle) every chance she gets, makes all her families dance regalia, does beadwork, makes pipestone jewelry, dream catchers, writes, makes moccasins, and occasionally draws and paints.
Rona has shown her work at many arts shows and pow wows around the US including the Herd Museum, Indian Summer, Colorado Indian Market, Red Earth, Gathering of Nations, and Brookings Art Festival to name a few. She has had the honor of traveling with American Indian Dance groups to Europe to do performances for the public and the wounded troops coming back from Iraq. Her work has been featured in magazines, newspapers, calendars and won many awards over the years. She feels that the true rewards of an artist come from the individual's stories of those she touched with her art.
Rona started carving in 1980 and has had many teachers. There are many people who she would like to thank for their guidance, teachings and wisdom, including Adrianne Roan Bear, Jack Crow, Deb and Christopher Michaels, Travis Erickson, Buck Ghost Horse, her husband Bud Johnston, Gene Bell, Breon Lake, Butch and Lee Taylor, and her 4 children (Jessica, Aaron, Pascal, and Camas) to name a few. Rona has traveled extensively and lived in many places around the US and has had the opportunity to study the culture, arts and mythology of many tribes.
With her degree in Early Childhood Education, Rona has spent her life incorporating her knowledge of American Indian culture into her teaching. Rona believes that it is important to give children more than reading and writing and arithmetic. If children feel good about who they are and have a passion for learning, they have the tools they need to succeed. Rona started volunteering for the Keepers in 1998 and became Secretary - Treasurer soon after.
Rona creates works of art in a variety of mediums from leather and beads to carving and jewelry. One of he favorite pipes is the eagle claw. This pipe features the eagle protecting the egg - re-creation of life. She began creating as a child, learning to crotchet at age 3, was doing beadwork by age 10, starting making her own regalia, carving stone and doing commissioned paintings while in high school. After graduating from Pipestone High School in Minnesota she traveled selling her beadwork , leatherwork and carvings all around the US and Canada.
Although she danced at a few Pow Wows while in high school. It wasn't until she had her own children that she started getting serious about discovering her roots and attended Pow Wows on a regular basis, first in Seattle Washington area and then in the Eugene Oregon area where she was living at the time. Also during this time she went to College and got her degree in education, was a presenter at conferences and did public speaking to bring awareness to the causes of homelessness of children.
Years later after graduating and having her 3rd child she moved to Alaska and learned a little about the people of the great north, began silversmithing, worked as a head supervising teacher of a large preschool, attended pow wows and eventually opened her own pre-school. After splitting with her first husband she took her children and move back to the Pipestone, MN. area to be close to family and completed a large circle She met her current husband soon after arriving in Pipestone and started a new set of adventures.
She ran a preschool there for awhile until she was offered a job working at the Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers. Today she continues to teach by doing day programs at schools with the help of her family on American Indian subjects from craft oriented classes, storytelling and history to American Indian dance. Rona and Her husband Bud have done classes on pipemaking here in Europe and Australia. She makes custom order pipestone carvings for people from all over the world, volunteers for the Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers ( funding ran out to pay her years ago), dances at pow wows (mostly Jingle) every chance she gets, makes all her families dance regalia, does beadwork, makes pipestone jewelry, dream catchers, writes, makes moccasins, and occasionally draws and paints.
Rona has shown her work at many arts shows and pow wows around the US including the Herd Museum, Indian Summer, Colorado Indian Market, Red Earth, Gathering of Nations, and Brookings Art Festival to name a few. She has had the honor of traveling with American Indian Dance groups to Europe to do performances for the public and the wounded troops coming back from Iraq. Her work has been featured in magazines, newspapers, calendars and won many awards over the years. She feels that the true rewards of an artist come from the individual's stories of those she touched with her art.
